Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche | Brauerei Heller-Trum / Schlenkerla

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Reviews by Bierman9:

Stopped into the Georgetown Deli (Wilkes-Barre) on 19MAR11 for lunch before heading to Hershey. Scooped up a bottle of Eiche ($6.99) for later enjoyment. Later is now!

I released the contents of the 0.5l bottle into an imperial pint glass. Color was a muted, slightly hazy orange/copper. Carbo was sparse, and the head had a few wisps of white foam, but didn't cover the liquid much. Aroma is pure smoke, a common trait among Schlenkerla products! Personally, I love it! I'm a big fan of Schlenkerla biers, so bring the Rauch! I found the body to be a touch bigger than medium, and it was smooth and easy over the tongue.

Slight sweetness coats the palate, while some caramel, hints of toffee, and lots of smoke attack the tastebuds. There is a definite, albeit subtle, tinge of oakiness here, though the smoke easily beats the oak. There is some florality here, too, but you have to look for it. This is quite tasty, if you like the style. I could sit in the Heller Schwemme all night and quaff this stuff!

Smells very much of a classic doppelbock in the best German style, with an infusion of very palatable smokiness- more like a fireplace and less like a campfire if that makes any sense. It has a meaty quality, but more like a purposefully smoked piece of meat than one cooked over open flame.

The flavor is fantastic. The doppelbock is rich, smooth and just sweet enough to balance the light alcohol note and subtle hops. Without the smoke this would be outstanding. Then add some delicious savory smokiness to balance the rich sweet malt and things go from great to awesome. This hits all the right notes from start to finish- in particular the smoke never gets overpowering, but stays put right in line with the wonderful "lagery" malt-bonanza of the big German beer. A Damned delight of a brew.

Conclusion: This is great stuff. The best Rauchbier I have had to date!

A: [3.50] Mid to light amber color. Produced a nice 1 1/2 finger head. The head was creamy and tight. The head dissipated pretty quickly. The bottle had a bit of sediment - but I think that is expected for the style. Beer is listed at 8% ABV. No dating on the bottle.

S: [3.75] Smoke. More specifically bacon. There is a distinct charred hardwood (like what bacon is cured over). Maybe some other hints of sweetness and caramel underneath.

T: [4.25] The taste follows the nose - but it is reversed. I get caramel and malty sweetness up front and then the smoked wood on the finish. There are no hops (or none that I can taste). I get no sense of the 8% alcohol - it is well hidden.

M: [4.50] Nice mouthfeel. Nothing cloying or drying at all.

O: [4.00] I have had one other smoked beer, from Germany, and it was over the top. This one is nicely balanced with more malt character. I really enjoyed this one. Very crisp and refreshing. No sense of alcohol burn, no drying or bittering. I think you could session a few of these.

Bottle poured into pilsner glass. Enjoyed outside next to my fire pit. Pours a clear light amber color with not much head. Light, blotchy lacing. Feel resembles a flat cola with slight carbonation. There's a cured meat resemblance to the taste (like a stick of salami). Smoke clearly present in its scent (not as strong as in its urbock sibling). Sweet toasted malt taste with a hint of alcohol. I prefer the urbock but this is a great beer. (9.0)

Appearance: Pours a clear golden red, almost orange-tinted, and forms quite a thick pale beige head that leaves crazy amounts of lacing as it slowly recedes. Bubbles line the bottom of the glass, and rocket upwards sporadically rather than in columns.

Smell: Dark, dank smoke swirls out of the glass, redolent with scents that remind me of a pork shoulder going in my smoker on a spring afternoon. There's a sweetness underlying the smoke, like caramel. The smoke scent itself, while allegedly oak, reminds me more of burning a mix of peat and hickory.

Taste: Oh my, that is a smooth-drinking beverage. The taste opens with a sweet caramel malt that seems to have been aged in oak barrels, which is suddenly overtaken in the middle by the taste of fire-blackened pork still dripping with fat. As it progresses, the meaty essence gives way first to charred and ashy wood, and by the finish, to a peaty soot. While there are allegedly Hallertau hops present, I can find no hop character to this beer (which is a plus for me), beyond the slight earthy-peaty tone to some of the smoke. There is no indication at all that this contains alcohol, just sweetness and smoke.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and quite drinkable, this feels like silk along the palate.

Overall: My first encounter with a Schlenkerla, and assuredly not my last. I'd call this more of a rauchbier than a doppelbock, as the primary characteristic is the smoke - there's nowhere near the level of bready, toffee, caramel, nutty, or dark fruit flavors I would associate with a doppelbock, nor the sticky mouthfeel. I greatly enjoy this beer, but I am forced to rate it as a doppelbock because that's how it's classified, and therefore that's the style-specific ranking it will appear in. Were this lumped in as a rauchbier, use of oak instead of beech notwithstanding, my rating would be far higher - easily over a 4 in every category.

A-An aggressive pour produces about one and one-half fingers of light-tan head. The foam is dense and retention is OK, about two minutes. The beer beneath is clear and light amber in color with rusty red highlights. No carbonation is visible.

S-The smoke is obvious; like a peated scotch whisky, with notes of iodine and brine. I'm also sniffing wood, like campfire wood that is not burned yet. Aside from the huge smoky note, there is a decent doppelbock aroma of sweet malty flavors like toffee, caramel, and creme brûlée. A few deep whiffs even reveal a little earthy hop note.

T-The taste mostly follows the smell. Moderately sweet malt flavors lead out with notes of bread dough followed by huge notes of woody and briny smoke on the finish. The woody campfire flavor lasts on the palate long after I am done with the bottle.

M-The heft is medium and carbonation is mild and creamy. Despite the strong, unique flavors, the beer drinks real easily.

O-It has been a while since I have jumped into the smoky world of Schlenkerla, but I am glad to be back. This is a a unique and well-done doppelbock.

Great to see this bottled offering here in Greensboro.Poured into a 1/2 liter stein a clear bronze with a fluffy white head,the lightest doppelbock beer I have ever saw but its clarity is nice.smoked summer sausage really sticks out to me in the nose along with a bit of iron.Smoked meat flavors abound,I mean it tastes like my moms summer sausage from back in the day,the oak makes this beer different than the others Schlenkerla beers.It tastes like oak fired pork,its an aquired taste,I used to cringe at this style of beer,now I search out this style,not for the faint of heart.

It pours a light orangish/red with a small head that dissipated quickly. I took a sniff and there was a smell of smoked malts which almost smelled of a smoked gouda cheese. The taste was quite complex, there was a taste of the smokiness like a smoked cheese/oaky flavor. That was then surpassed with a sweeter aftertaste of fruits and brown sugar finish. The mouthfeel is a a full body and heavy beer like most rauchbeirs. There is light carbonation. There is also a slight hint of alcohol, but it does weigh in at 8% abv. Overall, this rauchbeir is probably at the top of my list of rauchbeirs. I can only drink one or 2 of these bottles and then feel full. If you are into Rauchbeirs get this around christmas or whenever you can find this one!

Pours a deep amber color around the edges with a noticeably darker, copper center. Mostly murky and hazy with only slight transparency in the outer-amber crust. The cap is a weird shade of beige, possibly with some grey tint to it; decent retention and mild lacing left near the very top of the glass. Plenty of carbonation bubbles stream to the top of the beer - this one started slowly bubbling over after popping the cap.

As expected, a deep blanket of smokey goodness cleanses my nostrils the second I begin to bring the beer to my face. The smoke is deep and robust with a soft, underlying sweetness. It's got the "meaty" vibe going just a bit, hinting at smoked sausage or bacon. However the smoke seems a little sweeter in this as compared to the marzen and urbock. The malts seem to be heavier as they inject a caramel and toffee-like sweetness to the mix. In this sense, the smoke isn't quite as "forward" as some of the other Schlenkerla beers, rather it's more entwined. Strong notes of oak come out halfway through as well, and get even more forward upon the warming of the beer.

After my first sip, I'm surprised to find that the smoke flavor is much lighter on the palate than the nose would lead you to think. It's definitely still a huge contributing factor to the flavor, though; liquid smoke, soft sweetness, lightly burnt campfire wood, oak. The smoke flavors show unexpected complexity, actually. Equal in power, however, are the malts; caramely sweet, lightly sticky like toffee, and granting a substantial plum-like fruitness on the very tail end. Also in the finish is big-time bread and a lightly fading, sweet smoke and burnt wood flavor. Alcohol undetectable at first but provides some warmth halfway through the brew. Medium bodied, lightly sticky mouth feel with lots of carbonation.

Pretty damn good - if I had to choose, I'd say I like this better than the Marzen but not quite as much as the Urbock. The smoke flavors are a little more balanced in the way that the malt character seems to be much more "loaded up" in this one. The oak makes a very solid contribution to the flavor as well. Very enjoyable to drink - Heller-Trum is quickly becoming one of my favorite overseas breweries.

Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass, this beer is a beautiful, dark amber with a light tan head that rapidly dissipates and leaves no noticeable lacing.
The aroma is quite remarkable: Sweet malt and biscuit and baking bread and that underlying smoked char. Lovely.
Amazing taste this beer. I keep thinking it's a liquid Pixies song; instead of soft-loud-soft, it's bitter-sweet-bitter. Lots of bitter, dark fruit and spice right off, then sweet caramel and toffee and then a spicy and dry bitter. And beneath it all, that wonderful lingering oak char with hints of vanilla thrown in.
Moutfeel is medium-thin and a bit sticky.
Overall, this is just a great beer.

Poured into 25cl tulip
Mahogany colored with minimal, yellowish-tan head. Smells of oak smoke, ash-pit, pine, strong aroma fills the nose, pungent smell which permiates the nose wuickly. Tast is similar to smell, yet even more smokier, tastes like a beef jerkey stick. Malt undertones and with some toasted hints, and a hint of dry Carmel flavor, not sweet at all. Mouthfeel is lighter than expected, very drinkable, smooth texture and light-medium body is memorable, since I would expect much more heaviness in texture with beer of this many layers. Would pair awesome with sausage, salmon, cream-cheese, dill, herbs, mustard, smoked trout.

Drinkability: This is right up there with my favorite beers of all time. Just an amazing brew. The smoke is there but not overpowering. It sneaks in very subtly. The oak is also there but not too strong. Perfectly balanced. I would love to see this be a regular offering.